Indium tin oxide

Indium tin oxide is a transparent conducting ceramic made mainly from indium oxide and tin oxide. Its combination of optical transparency and electrical conductivity makes it useful as a thin-film electrode.

Transparent conducting oxide: A metal oxide that transmits visible light while conducting electricity. Indium tin oxide is the best-known member of this material family.
Touchscreen: A display surface that detects touch input through electrical or optical sensing. Transparent indium tin oxide electrodes detect touch in many capacitive screens.
Fluorine-doped tin oxide: Tin dioxide made conductive by substituting fluorine into its crystal structure. It is a durable, lower-cost transparent electrode alternative, though often less optically refined.
Indium: A soft, silvery post-transition metal used chiefly in electronics and specialized alloys. Indium is the scarce constituent whose supply and price affect indium tin oxide.
Indium(III) oxide: An inorganic oxide of indium with the formula In₂O₃. It forms the principal host lattice in most indium tin oxide compositions.
Liquid-crystal display: A flat-panel display that controls light transmission using electrically aligned liquid crystals. Patterned indium tin oxide electrodes apply fields across liquid-crystal pixels.
Aluminium-doped zinc oxide: Zinc oxide doped with aluminium to increase electrical conductivity. It avoids indium and can cost less, but its performance and stability differ.
Critical raw materials: Raw materials considered economically important and vulnerable to supply disruption. Heavy reliance on indium tin oxide makes indium a recurring materials-security concern.
Tin(IV) oxide: An inorganic oxide of tin with the formula SnO₂. Tin incorporated into indium oxide contributes electrons that increase conductivity.
Organic light-emitting diode: A light-emitting device with organic semiconductor layers between electrodes. Indium tin oxide commonly serves as the transparent anode that injects holes.

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